Moving On
by Anri
Summary: AWE SPOILERS Sparrabeth What if Will had not proposed to Elizabeth during the final battle, and Barbossa had not married them. A different turn of events after Will becomes captain of the Flying Dutchman. Full Summary Inside. One Shot.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pirates of the Caribbean.

**Summary:** **AWE SPOILERS** What if Will had not proposed to Elizabeth during the final battle, and Barbossa had not married them. A different turn of events after Will becomes captain of the Flying Dutchman. He doesn't want to keep Elizabeth waiting for ten years at a time for just one day, so he sets her free. J/E Songfic covering all three of their perspectives.

_Please just don't play with me  
My paper heart will bleed  
This wait for destiny won't do  
Be with me please I beseech you  
Simple things, that make you run away  
Catch you if I can_

Captain Jack Sparrow watched with a sigh as Elizabeth rowed away to a small island to meet with Will. The only sights that he could make out were two silhouettes standing on the beach as the sun began its descent.

"Shall we be moving on then Captain?" Jack hardly heard the question, pretending to be preoccupied by something else.

"No, what say we rest here tonight…" Jack trailed off, not paying attention to whoever just asked.

"Yes Captain," Ragetti said a little all too knowingly.

As the sun set and Will's ship disappeared, Elizabeth made her way back to the battered pearl. Climbing aboard, she ignored the questioning looks she received and attempted to make her way below deck._  
_  
_Tears fall, down your face  
the taste, is something new_

It was only once she was out of eye and ear shot that she let the sobs take over her. Sure things had not been wonderful between herself and Will, but towards the end he seemed to be trying to tell her something. She thought for sure he would be able to tell her once they were on the island, but he only came to tell her he was severing all ties to her.

"Wha's the matter, love?" Elizabeth had stopped her pacing and allowed herself to look up. She saw none other than Captain Jack Sparrow standing before her, his dark eyes holding no arrogance, not even a hint of humor.

"J… ack..." Elizabeth wasted no time in flinging her arms around him and burying her face in his chest. She hadn't shown such weakness in a long while and why to Jack of all people? Needless to say Jack was taken aback at her actions, but wrapped his arms around her none the less.

_Something that  
I know moving on is,  
Easiest when I am around you._

"There, there, love." Jack simply allowed her to cry on him, waiting for her to speak, though he had a vague idea of what had happened.

"He… left me." Elizabeth's was shaky, her shoulders shaking from the brunt of her sobs, slowly claming herself. "I guess he thought it would be easier for us this way." Jack didn't know what to say to her or what to do. He wasn't used to dealing with a sobbing heart broken woman. "I don't know where to go… what to do… I," she trailed off.

"Ye can always stay with me and the rest of the crew…" Jack said trying to sound lighthearted. Elizabeth backed out of his arms to look at him.

"Do you really mean that?" Elizabeth's gaze bore in his own, a flash of hope coming across her visage at not being completely abandoned.

"O' course Lizzie, did ye really expect me to just chuck you off the Pearl?" A look of relief came across Jack's face as his little statement earned a small smile from Elizabeth.

_So bottle up old love,  
and throw it out to sea,  
Watch it away as you cry_

From that day the months went by as Elizabeth traveled along with Jack, finding herself growing more and more attached to him. Staring out at the sea, she realized she was letting go of Will's memory. Maybe in ten years when they met again, it could at least be a semi friendly affair.

"Don't stare like that too long; yer face will get stuck that way." Elizabeth's reverie was cut short but Jack's voice breaking through. With a small smirk she turned to face him.

"What is it to you captain?" Elizabeth walked around him, her long hair blowing in the wind.

_A year has passed  
the seasons go_

"Jack?"

"Yes, love?"

"Has it really been a year since the final battle, since Will…?" Elizabeth trailed off, and moved to stand beside Jack at the wheel.

"Afraid so darlin', doesn't seem like it though does it?"

"No it certainly doesn't." Elizabeth linked her arm with his. Jack let a small grin cross his face as he steered the Pearl towards the nearest port.

"'Bout time we replenished stocks don't ye think?" Jack said, trying to keep Elizabeth from dwelling too much on the past. Elizabeth nodded. "Ye alright there love?"

"Yes." Elizabeth looked to Jack and smiled. "You know… I never thanked you…"

"There was never a need darlin', never a need." Jack cut her off and gave her his classic golden toothed grin. What happened next caught him off guard. The look in her eyes changed so drastically, he was almost afraid he had said something to upset her. It was clearly not the case as she leaned up and gave him a light kiss on the lips.

Before Jack could fathom what had just happened it was over, and Elizabeth was giving him a light grin from over her shoulder as she went to help the crew going ashore prepare to board the dinghy to get supplies.

_Please just don't play with me  
My paper heart will bleed  
This wait for destiny won't do  
Be with me please I beseech you  
Simple things, that make you run away  
Catch you if I can_

It was nightfall by the time they reached the port. Elizabeth and Jack both stayed behind to keep watch of the ship as most of the other crew went to enjoy a night on the town.

_Waiting, day to day it goes through  
my lips, are sealed for her  
my tongue is,  
Tied to, a dream of being with you  
to settle for less, is not what I prefer_

Elizabeth was standing at the prow of the ship looking out to the beach as the last of the crew members rowed ashore. Jack walked up behind her quietly, with the ship at anchor he didn't have to worry about it drifting off. She smiled, knowing he was there, and turned to face him.

"It's a beautiful sight isn't it…?" Elizabeth spoke quietly, and gently. She had lost a lot of her hostility towards the captain, knowing it was because she didn't feel the need to keep up a façade around him anymore.

"That it is, but not quite as beautiful as the one I be looking at right now," Jack said offering up a grin. Elizabeth smirked.

"Always the charmer," she replied turning away from him again.

_So bottle up old love  
and throw it out to sea,  
Watch it away as you cry_

Jack moved to stand behind her, moving her hair away from her neck and leaning down to kiss the soft skin beneath.

"Jack…" Elizabeth gasped out.

"Don't make me wait any longer love…" Jack whispered huskily in her ear. He had wanted to make his move on her so badly, but new Wills sudden break would leave her down and out for quite awhile.

_A year has passed  
the seasons go_

Jack was going to help her let go for good, he could see it in the way she watched him that there had always been something there, but she was afraid to act on it. Now was his chance to know for sure if the fire he saw in her eyes was great enough to match his own.

Elizabeth answered him by twisting in his arms and wrapping her arms around his neck slamming her lips to his. Jack was hardly surprised as her tongue was the first to lick his bottom lip for entrance. He couldn't resist her as she bit down on his bottom lip and swept her up into his arms and quickly stumbled to his cabin.

_Please just don't play with me  
My paper heart will bleed  
This wait for destiny won't do  
Be with me please I beseech you  
Simple things, that make you run away  
Catch you if I can_

The next morning Elizabeth woke up completely nude, but strangely warm. Opening her eyes she was covered in a blanket, and was held tightly. Looking up she saw Jack grinning down at her shamelessly.

As the memories of last night accosted her mind, a small smile and blush crossed her visage. It had been wild and rough releasing their passions upon each other. Yes, there had been pain in the beginning, but it hadn't lasted too long.

"Didn't know I was so good to make ye speechless," Jack said still with that same grin on his face. Elizabeth looked to him in mock offense.

"I am not speechless, simply thinking over how I ravished you last night." Jack laughed at this.

"…and ravish you did." Jack kissed her deeply, and pulled away his face falling into one of seriousness. "I can't give ye much Lizzie, nor can I make very many promises." Elizabeth watched as Jack tried to sort out his words, clearly being hard for him to tell her. "What I can promise is I will always love ye this way, and do what I can to take care of ye." Smiling Elizabeth leaned up to kiss him again.

"I couldn't ask for anything more than that captain… more than you." Jack held her tightly letting his hands roam over her soft bare skin, kissing her deeply; they reenacted the events of last night.

The crew returned early that afternoon to find a very good tempered captain and a smiling Elizabeth as they prepared to set sail to the seas once again. The crew of the Pearl could easily guess what had transpired while they were gone, but it was a beautiful day and everything seemed as it should be, not that anyone would dare question it anyway.

"Ready to travel the rest o' the world darlin'?" Jack was grinning as he asked this, standing at the wheel, steering the Pearl away from the shore.

"With you? Anywhere," Elizabeth said, standing at his side. She could have sworn that Will leaving her would be the end of her love life and happiness, but it had turned out for the better. She couldn't imagine being happier stuck in her father's home tied away from the sea.

_Summer time, the nights are so long  
the leaves fall down,  
and so do I into the arms of a friend  
Winter nights  
my bedside is cold, for I am gone  
and spring blossoms you to me_

Will Turner stood at the wheel of the Dutchman, guiding the lost souls to their respective resting places. His mind was full of Elizabeth, his beautiful Elizabeth, and if she had managed to recover from his leaving her. He would always love her, but he just couldn't make her suffer through ten years of time waiting on his return, aging and missing him.

"I hope she knows that this was for her," Will said quietly to himself. It had been a year, a very, very long year. He was now sure that his decision was the right one. Nine more years such as this, would have been too much. He only hoped that a certain pirate lord would see to the safety of Elizabeth.

Will would always remember her as she was, smiling, happy, strong, and one day when she passed on he would safely guide her to where she could rest. He contemplated just keeping her with him, but if things were going as he assumed they are, she wouldn't want to leave Jack. It tore him up inside knowing that he left her to be loved by anyone other than himself, but knew that of all people, Jack could do it the best.

_Summer time, the nights they are so long  
the leaves fall down,  
and so do I into the arms of a friend  
winter nights  
my bedside is cold, for I am gone  
and spring blossoms you to me_

Will now had his own destiny to fulfill, and who knew what the next day would bring. With his father finally freed and traveling with him, and Elizabeth loved and taken care of, he felt he could do this with out worry. Will didn't know exactly how it would go between the Pirate King and the Captain of the Black Pearl, but he had a feeling of peace that they had worked things out.

In nine years he would have his chance to make sure of that, but until then, he would go about his duty, thinking that things have worked out as they should. There was no other way he could live with it, but for telling himself this is how it is supposed to be.

**Author's Note:**

So, that was it. I hope you enjoyed. Just something I randomly decided to post, when I really, really, should be finishing my other stories. I've a bit of writer's block where they are concerned. Either way, review and let me know what you think. Also, please forgive any errors that slip my eye. Song: "My Paper Heart" - The All American Rejects


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